The Loneliest Rhode
by fl0ydle
Summary: With the gods and world on the verge of WWII, and the Great Prophecy speaking of a child of the eldest gods, Poseidon hides away his daughter Rhode. But seventy years later, he seems to have forgotten to let her out, or that she exists in general. Now free, she boards the Argo II to complete the Eight, fulfill her prophecy, and defeat Gaea.
1. Chapter 1: A Fireman

Chapter 1: A Fireman and a Pretty Lady

Leo P.O.V

Leo sat in the mess hall along with his siblings, happily munching on his third taco. The Argo II was halfway done. They only needed to add on food, weapons, other lethal details, pack the ship and then fly off into the sunset.

Except for one thing…

The Prophecy of Eight. With that thought, the taco happiness had completely dissolved, the exhaustion settling back on his shoulders.

Together, with Rachel's creepy prophecy possessions and simple math, everyone had determined that there were three demigods at the Roman Camp and four at the Greek Camp.

So the big question on everyone's mind was:

Where was the Eighth demigod?

The prophecy read:

 _Eight half-bloods shall answer the call,_

 _To hurricane or fire, the world must fall,_

 _A pledge of love with a final breath,_

 _And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death_

Leo tried to brush it off, not worrying about it, but Annabeth was frantic. On top of her still M.I.A. boyfriend, she was now having searchers look for special smelling demigods on the run. Leo had laughed at the 'smelling' part, and then she had practically punched him. Thankfully, Piper had convinced everyone with her charmspeak to calm down before his gorgeous face was smashed in.

But Annabeth had dragged Jason into her stress, who dragged Piper into it, and then left Leo alone to his own devices. But, surprisingly, he had been able to fight off the loneliness by distracting himself with building the Argo. The best part was when he had installed Festus's head onto the ship. His drilling teeth and fiery roars had kept him company.

But now, the isolation and tiredness began to eat at him again. He sighed, and opened his mouth to take another delicious bite, when yells began resonating from near Thalia's Pine. The mess hall became silent for a moment, everyone exchanging looks before the Ares table yelled: "Charge!" And everyone dashed after them across the camp towards the yells.

Leo stuffed the rest of the taco into his mouth, swallowing the crunchy goodness, before pulling a large hammer out of his tool belt and igniting it on fire.

But suddenly the screaming crowd stopped suddenly. Leo slammed into a large kid smelling of salty sweat. He turned around glaring down at him. Leo smiled weakly and waved. "Hey…"

The kid lunged at him, and Leo yelped and dashed through the crowd, possibly catching a few kids on fire, but that wasn't important.

He burst through the front of the crowd and spilled onto the wet grass that extinguished the flame on his hammer. He cringed in anticipation. But when he peered up, he sighed in relief to see the baby cyclops, Tyson, who was apparently Annabeth's boyfriend, Percy Jackson's half-brother. (Leo had stopped trying to figure out godly genetics a _long_ time ago.)

But what really grabbed his attention was the squirming burlap bag, which was making muffled shouts and other angry noises. Tyson didn't really seem fazed. He carefully set down the bag and pulled up Leo in a suffocating hug, yelling happily: "Fireman!"

Leo laughed weakly as he tried to put air back into his lungs. "Tyson...please...put me...down!" He squeaked out.

"Oh, sorry, fireman!" He apologized, his large brown eye watering.

Leo waved him off. "It's fine Ty', just…" he trailed off nervously and pointed to the bag. "Uh, what's that?"

"New demigod! She wasn't happy so I put her in a bag. Don't worry, I was very careful." Tyson responded proudly.

Leo's eyes widened, but before he could reply, Annabeth's voice sounded from behind him.

"There's a _what_ in there?" Annabeth shouted worriedly.

"Demigod!" Tyson said happily, still oblivious to the problem the situation held.

"Uh, yeah, no." She said and grabbed her dagger. She carefully sliced through the fabric. She whispered some unintelligible words to the person, before extending her hand.

Slowly, Annabeth pulled out a girl about his age that made everyone gasp. Annabeth stumbled back and paled. One of her siblings rushed forward and supported her.

As Leo studied the girl, he realized why everyone was so shocked. In the Big House, he had seen a collage of pictures, one of which pictured Annabeth and her boyfriend and this girl was almost identical to him.

Her skin was pale, but had Mediterranean undertones. She was fiddling with a silver bracelet that had only a small blue stone in the center. Her grey tank-top wrinkled and her pale green jeans ripped. Her black-blue hair was long and hung to her mid back. But what really caught his attention was her eyes. They were like swirling seas, blue-green waves crashing against her pupils.

Her eyes glanced over the crowd. Then she took a step back with and deadpanned: "Nope." And began back walking towards the barrier.

There was a pause before Annabeth shook herself out of her stupor and chased after her. Leo stood stunned and barely noticed Jason and Piper break through the crowd and stand next to him. They were panting tiredly.

"What in Hades is going on?" Jason asked.

"Uh, well, you see…" Leo stammered in confusion.

"You don't know, do you?" Piper said dryly.

Leo sighed and explained what was going on so far, Tyson's arrival, the girl in the bag, her strangely similar appearance to the missing son of Poseidon, and her just flat out leaving.

By the end of the short explanation, Leo noticed that almost all of the campers had left to go back to their activities, leaving the trio alone to wait.

Suddenly, Annabeth appeared walking back up the hill, chatting nervously with the girl. She was only answering in single syllables, but at least she wasn't running away.

They walked up to the trio and Annabeth awkwardly cleared her throat. "Okay, guys, this is Rhode. She's a new...demigod."

Everyone looked above her head expectantly. Annabeth scowled after a few moments, cursing the gods for slacking off on their claiming duties.

"Uh, why is everyone looking at the empty space above my head?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow and pointing to where they were looking.

"No reason!" They replied simultaneously.

Rhode didn't look convinced, but she stuck her hand out to Piper, who was closest. "So I'm Rhode, Rhode Léon-" But before Piper could respond and shake her hand, Leo pushed her out of the way.

He shook Rhode's hand quickly, a bit of soot rubbing off on it. "I'm Leo Valdez, Bad Boy Supreme, but you, Pretty Lady, can call me whatever you want." He winked and ran his fingers through his hair.

Rhode turned fifty shades of red and nodded quickly. Piper scowled and whacked him upside the head, making him yelp. "Idiot," she muttered, and then turned to Rhode with a genuine smile. "I'm Piper, Piper McLean, and this is my boyfriend, Jason Grace."

"It's very nice to meet you all," Rhode said. Her voice had a odd but subtle accent to it, and her dialect and mannerisms were a bit old-fashioned. Leo grinned softly at the uniqueness.

He hooked his arm with hers. "Come on! I'll show you all around camp, and we can try to figure out your godly parent, and then maybe later,-"

"There will be no later," Annabeth said, rolling her grey eyes with annoyance. "Leo, you have work to do on the Argo. Jason, go help him set up the mast, we need our flyboy for that. And Pipes', please show Rhode around. I need to go think…" she concluded, her eyebrows furrowing.

Jason cupped Piper's face and pecked her on the cheeks. "See you later Pipes'."

Leo stuck his finger in his mouth and bent over, pretending like he was going to puke. Rhode snickered quietly at his expression, and he winked back at her impishly. When Piper turned around, she immediately stopped laughing and stood still as a soldier. Piper gently grabbed Rhodes hand.

"See ya', Superman." Then she turned to Leo and narrowed her eyes with a scowl. "Repairboy, I'm warning you right now, no stalking, no cringey pickup lines, and no winking, got it?"

He stood up straight and mock saluted, but crossed his fingers behind his back. "You got it, Beauty Queen."

"You guys sure have a lot of nicknames," Rhode muttered. Everyone turned to her, and her eyes widened, the blush returning to her cheeks. "Oh gods, did I say that out loud?"

"Sure did, Pretty Lady, and now you've got one too." He smirked.

"Fat chance, Mr. Badboy," she stuck her tongue out at him and she and Piper darted away laughing.

The minute they were out of earshot, Leo sighed happily. Jason just shook his head, "Come on, Mr. Spock, we've got work to do," and started to walk away.

Leo groaned loudly. "I don't even like _Star Trek!_ " He whined and chased after him.


	2. Chapter 2: A Pretty Lady

Chapter 2: A Beauty Queen and a Pretty Lady

Rhode P.O.V.

Rhode didn't think her day could get any worse.

She followed Piper around silently as the kaleidoscope eyed girl toured her around. She showed her the Big House, the cabins, the woods, but the best parts were the Pegasus Stables and the lake, the latter of which they visited first. Rhode made sure to stay wet when she came out of the lake instead of being automatically dry like she usually was.

But at the stables, when she saw the majestic creatures, she automatically grinned with relief. At least there was someone here she could talk too.

 _Holy Hephaestus, it's a mini-boss!_ A black one whinnied and Rhode cocked her head in confusion.

"Huh?" She asked and walked up to his stall. Piper watched in bewilderment.

He stuck his head over the railing and sniffed her, whinnying again happily. _You smell exactly like the boss! Will you get me donuts?_

Rhode stuck her hand out and stroked his nose, "Sweetheart, I think you have a fever," she teased.

He snorted in protest and stomped his hoof. _Hey! Blackjack. Needs. Donuts!_

"Your name is Blackjack? That's a nice name." Rhode said.

 _Thanks mini-boss!_

"Wait, you can talk to horses? And how did you know his name?" Piper suddenly said. Rhode almost jumped ten feet into the air in fright.

She scrambled for an excuse. "Uh, no I just...like to pretend I can! And his name is on the stall." Rhode explained frantically and pointed to the nameplate on the stall, laughing nervously.

Piper nodded unsurely, with a look like, _Okay, crazy, we're going to ship you back to Poseidon's Palace tomorrow morning, where you'll be locked up again for another seventy years until the new prophecy comes to formission._

Piper opened her mouth to say something, when someone blew a conch shell in the distance. She sighed, "Time for dinner."

Rhode nodded slowly and stepped out of the stable, calling out, "I'll bring you donuts tomorrow, Blackjack!"

Then she turned to Piper, and asked, "What are donuts?"

Piper laughed. "My gods, Rhode."

"What?"

She shook her head, wiping away a stray tear. "Nothing. I just think we're going to be good friends."

We walked up the hill to the dining pavilion. A couple hundred or so campers sat amongst the nymphs and satyrs. A large bronze brazier burned in the center, and marble columns were decorated with torches. The tables and benches didn't have the same amount of campers, and Rhode immediately identified the purpose. Herme's table was the most full, but there weren't just twelve tables for the twelve main gods. The pavilion seemed to have been extended, probably very recently, for minor gods and goddesses.

At the front stood a centaur, the famous hero trainer Chiron, she guessed, and judging by the smell of wine, it was probably Dionysus. Rhode saw Annabeth whisper into the centaur, and his gaze turned to her. Piper noticed this and said, "You should probably go up there, he needs to introduce you. You might even get claimed."

Rhode nodded nervously. Piper walked pass the Zeus table, kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, and then went over to the Aphrodite table. She certainly didn't fit in with all the makeup obsessed barbies, but she was certainly gorgeous enough to be the goddess of beauty's daughter.

Rhode noted earlier Piper introducing Jason as her boyfriend, and not a single party, and knew immediately that she was an Aphrodite. But she knew she was nice too, she was just purely and proudly in love, not trying to be rude and shove their relationship in her face. Rhode liked that. A girl that knows what she wants and can speak up about it. Rhode wished she could have courage like that.

Annabeth started walking towards her, and Rhode met her in the middle. "Chiron wants to see you. He couldn't earlier because he was busy with some work."

Rhode nodded. "Yeah, Piper told me as much. They've got to introduce me or something?"

"Yup." Annabeth said, and gave her a gentle shove. "You'll be fine. I could definitely see you as a daughter of Athena." She said, but Rhode could see in her eyes that Annabeth knew that not to be true."Uh, thanks. I'll see you later…" she trailed off and walked up to the front, where Chiron was waiting. The moment the white centaur got a good look at her, it seemed as though he had turned into a ghost.

"You, you should not exist." He whispered.

She laughed nervously. "What do you mean, sir?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Rhode Elizabeth Léon, where have you been for the past seventy years? Last i saw you, you looked exactly as you do now! And that's far impossible, my dear." Chiron said, stroking his beard anxiously.

"Trapped in a timeless room in the palace until the Great prophecy was fulfilled so I wouldn't be the one to have to kill Kronos." Rhode replied tiredly. The last seventy years weighed back down on her, and she suddenly wanted to curl up and go to sleep forever.

"I see. Your father is usually not that ignorant-" thunder boomed in the distance, and Rhode rolled her eyes. Chiron continued unfazed. "-but I can understand that in his desperation he would have performed as such. And then while looking for Percy, Tyson found you, since you smell like him, almost a year overdue to be released, and took you back here against your will."

Rhode nodded. "Thank you, for wrapping up the past seventy years," she replied sarcastically. She had only learned the speaking style from the guards who got annoyed with her constant pestering.

Chiron smirked down at her. "I see you've acquired a nice sense of humor." Then his smile fell, and he seemed ten years older. "Now we just have to figure out-"

"Can we start dinner already?" A husky voice called out from the Ares table. Many yells of agreement echoed through the pavilion.

Chiron sighed. "Of course, just one moment!" he called back. Then he turned to her and whispered, "After dinner, I will speak to you again at the cabin counselor's meeting. Without Percy here, you are senior officer."

Rhode frowned at that name. Percy. It was all over the place here, but who was he? Suddenly a pit formed in her stomach. Her dad wouldn't break the oath, would he? She gulped.

"Sir, who's Percy?" She asked, but Chiron wasn't listening anymore, now announcing the schedule of tomorrow and progress on the Argo II, whatever that was, and Capture the Flag and blah blah blah.

Rhode tuned it out until she heard, "...And we have a new camper joining us, Rhode Léon." He gestured to her. She stepped to the front and waved shyly. The pavilion was silent except for whispers, that she could only catch snippets of.

"Do you think that she…"

"Look at her eyes…"

"What if she's the…"

"She looks exactly like Percy…"

Chiron cleared his throat and the murmurs disappeared. "Now Rhode has already been claimed, long ago-"

"Wait, is she Roman like Jason? Last time you started telling who's godly parent they have like that, we got a Roman." A voice called out. People glanced back at the blonde, who was shifting nervously in his seat. Tension filled the air as if they were suddenly on a battle ground. Shivers went up Rhode's spine, and she clasped her bracelet to stay grounded.

"No, Rhode is not Roman, but even if she were, it wouldn't matter for we are allying with them now, yes?" The centaur said.

Muttered yeses sounded in the room and Rhode's eyes widened. She tugged on Chiron's tweed jacket sleeve panickedly. "What? They know about the Romans? And now we're allying with them?" She waited for an answer but he ignored her. She sighed in irritation.

"But, anyways, she was claimed long ago. Rhode, give them a demonstration."

Rhode stepped forward nervously. All eyes were on her. Her stomach churned. She had no idea what to do. She was about to run off the stage when Jason waved at her. He probably knew exactly what she was going through.

"You got this!" He mouthed. Rhode smiles and suddenly knew what to do.

She closed her eyes and placed her hand in front of her, imagining all the water in the room to swirl into a sphere above the pavilion. There was a familiar tug in her gut and everyone gasped. Rhode opened her eyes and grinned at the sight. The giant bubble hovered and spun slowly like a lazy globe. Seventy years of nothing to do but train gave her a lot of experience. She then clapped her hands together and the bauble exploded into mist which fell on the campers. Sunset light shown through the mist and created a rainbow which quickly dissolved into nothingness.

Silence, except for a few giggling toddlers.

The room filled with more whispers:

"Holy Hephaestus!"

"I knew it!"

"Poseidon broke the oath twice?"

"What if she's the…"

Rhode frowned. What if she's the _what?_ That was the second time she'd heard that phrase.

Chiron clapped quietly. "Uh, very nice. Rhode, please go sit down at Table Three. Someone will show you your cabin after the meeting. And now dinner may commence!"

She walked to the empty table, ignoring the sudden explosion of noise and laughter. A nymph floated by and handed her a plate and goblet. Rhode sighed and got what she normally had at the palace, Zuppa Toscana, an Italian soup that was slightly spicy but creamy too. Plain water was her drink. She poured a bit of the soup into the fire. "To Poseidon." She said monotonously. _Even though you completely forgot about me and left me rotting in a never ending Hades in your palace for seventy years,_ she added in her head angrily.

A water goblet exploded behind her in her irritation. The kid who was drinking from it now soaked, glared at her. "Sorry…" she apologized weakly and darted back to her seat.

She ate in silence, but it would be weird if she was talking, the table was empty except for her.

Dinner seemed to last forever, but finally it did. She walked alone to the Big House until three sets of footsteps dashed up to her.

" _Hello,_ " Leo said, waggling his eyebrows and draping his arm over her shoulder. "Wanna come to my secret hideout after the meeting?" She ducked from underneath his arm and laughed. "In your dreams, Mr. Bad Boy Supreme."

He grinned and they kept talking. The entire conversation was full of cheesy pickup lines and jokes, and she loved it.

Piper and Jason lagged behind, whispering to each other and holding hands. Rhode good heartedly rolled her eyes at the lovebirds.

They reached the Big House. When they entered the room, everything was in chaos. Annabeth was trying to Iris message some Hades boy, Rhode slightly remembered Nico, but a freckled Hermes kid was in the middle of pranking her. The Apollo counselor was pretending a mechanical pencil was a syringe on the Hypnos kid who was passed out on the table. A Demeter kid was planting seeds in a Hecate girl's hair whilst she was trying to curse them into a chicken. The ARes boy was about to punch Dionysus's kid, but unbeknownst to him, vines were growing around his ankles.

Rhode looked around astonished, and kind of scared, but the other three just sat down around the ping pong table like it was nothing. She followed suit and sat in between Piper and Leo. Before she knew it, Leo had caught his corner of the table on fire, which no one seemed to mind, and Piper was trying to charmspeak a Iris boy into punching himself in the face, while Jason watched with mild interest.

So Rhode shrugged, and made an apple-sized sphere of water out of the air's moisture, and spun it around on her finger absentmindedly. It felt like five minutes, but when Chiron walked in, the room was in worse shape than before.

But unfazed as always he simply said, "Annabeth, please, take that call outside. Connor, you stay in here, no pranks until this meeting is over." The freckled boy groaned but took a seat and Annabeth left with the I.M.. "Will, please throw away that pencil and wake up Clovis. Lou Ellen, turn Miranda back into a human and pull those saplings from your hair. Sherman and Pollux, please stop wrestling and making out on the floor over there." Everyone let out a snicker and the two boys blushed and jumped up in their seats. Chiron continued. "Piper, stop making Butch punch himself, and Jason, hold her back next time. And lastly, Rhode, please use your water sphere to put out Leo's fire."

Rhode lazily flicked the ball of water onto the table, extinguishing the fire that had climbed to the ping pong net. Everything was silent, and somehow, all the ADHD kids were paying attention. Chiron looked around, satisfied. "Thank you. Now, first of all,"

"Any sign of Percy?" A girl called out, laurels in her hair. Rhode sunk into her seat. Here we go again, she thought.

Chiron sighed. "Unfortunately, no. You all know we still have search parties all over the place, which brings me to my next point." He took a breath as if to prepare for the camper's responses. "I believe Rhode may be the eighth half-blood.

The room erupted into chaos.

"Are you crazy?"

"Where's the proof?"

"She's brand new! She won't be able to handle it!"

"Quiet!" Dionysus, or Mr. D, as she had learned they call him, yelled from the other room, immediately silencing them.

Chiron rubbed his eyes. "Many years ago, even before the first Great Prophecy, the oracle revealed to me that the eighth member would be the next half-blood found."

"What was the prophecy?" Annabeth asked in a steely tone from the doorway. She had taken her honey blonde hair out of it's ponytail, and it was mussed up, like she'd run her hands through it a million times.

The centaur recited it by heart.

 _Seventy years, the girl shall wait_

 _Trapped beneath a watery gate_

 _Until the prophecy is fulfilled_

 _She will become impossibly skilled_

 _Tis' then the Eighth member will be ready_

 _To finish the set and make it steady_

 _For an oath to keep with a final breath_

 _Will be the one that delivers her death_

A/N: Any feedback is much appreciated! Next chapter will probably come out by Thursday. (Not that anyone cares lol.) Peace. -Captain


	3. Chapter 3: A Pretty Lady

Chapter 3: A Pretty Lady and a Barnacle Beard

Rhode P.O.V.

Everyone's pale faces were looking at hers. Rhode swallowed thickly. The silence hung heavy in the room, which had only moments ago been filled with a cacophony of laughter and shouting.

Annabeth recovered first. Rhode had noticed the daughter of Athena was light on her feet and wasn't easily swayed by terrifying news or events.

"Okay, but how does that tell you that the eighth member would be the next half-blood to enter camp? It's just Rhode's...fate." Annabeth visibly stiffened at the last part of the statement. Rhode frowned, she spoke as if she wasn't there.

Chiron began explaining, but Rhode wasn't paying much attention to the conversation anymore, trying to cope with her inner turmoil. Either her or someone else was going to make an oath that would inevitably lead to her death. She felt as if her soul was a ticking timebomb, waiting for her to slip up so it could escape her body.

"...So, Rhode is going to be the eighth member of the Argo II, save the world, and…" Piper trailed off. Everyone who mentioned her spoke of her like she was an absent porcelain doll, not even in the room. Her fists clenched under the table. She was simply forgotten, again.

"The Romans aren't going to like that Rhode's the eighth," Annabeth said. "They were already outnumbered three to four, and now there's going to be five Greeks and only three Romans." Rhode's fists tightened. She gripped her bracelet.

Jason gravely nodded in agreement. "She's right. This setup would put them at a theoretical strategic disadvantage for them if things go wrong."

Arguments broke out immediately. Soon, Sherman was trying to separate Miranda and Pollux, who were instantaneously on the brink of a fight. Annabeth and Jason were talking about strategy, and their volume kept rising as they tried to talk over the noise. Leo fidgeted nervously with spare nuts and bolts, and Chiron sat with his head in his hands. Many sat in hesitant and anxious silence, eyes darting around like they were caged animals. Piper was trying to calm down the other numerous arguments with her charm speak, to no avail, when Rhode snapped.

She leapt up out of her chair angrily. "Enough!" She yelled, silencing the room with a single word. She glared at the occupants of the room. "This has gone far enough! I am new, but I am over eight decades old, and spent seventy of those years trapped under the sea training! I consider myself qualified! And stop speaking about me as if I'm made of glass and not even in this room! And yeah, I'm destined to die, sure, whatever, but everyone does eventually. And if I have to sacrifice myself in order to save the world, consider it done."

She paused for breath as everyone stared at her in astonishment and awe. Her face still burned with anger. She swallowed, suddenly self conscious. She cleared her throat. "Uh, so yeah… sorry. I've been told I've got a bad temper…" she muttered hoarsely, her throat raw from yelling.

"You can say that again," Connor said with a laugh, successfully breaking the tension.

Will grinned in amazement. "Definitely one of Poseidon's lot, not everyone can take charge surrounded by crazy volatile half-gods."

Leo smirked at her. "Guess that settles it, Pretty Lady."

Piper smiled too. "All that are for Rhode going with us to save the world, raise your hand."

The daughter of Aphrodite didn't even need to use to use charmspeak to convince everyone to raise their hand. Pride overpowered Rhode's senses, the first time in seventy years she had been complimented as such.

She was certainly scared. Terrified even. But scary is exciting, and exhilaration flooded through her. She grinned back at the demigods with an uncontrollable grin.

"You were amazing!" Piper said with a laugh as she led her to Cabin Three. Leo and Jason had parted ways with the two of them, but not without a last few pickup lines from the self-proclaimed Bad boy.

Rhode blushed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Thanks Pipes'. I'm sorry I didn't tell you initially about my powers, too." She added, referencing their earlier conversation.

Piper rolled her eyes with an exasperated but amused laugh. "Rhode, it's fine! Nobody really likes to give out personal information to strangers. Leo took _ages_ to tell us about his pyrokinesis."

Rhode nodded, glad to lift the guilt off her chest, even if it was only a minor slight. They soon approached a short and stout building, with rough grey stone walls that had fragments of seashells and imprints of fossilized sea life.

"This is it," Piper announced. Rhode nodded anxious, excited and scared. The building looked exactly like home, making her want to rush to it, but at the same time, home wasn't exactly on her top favorites list right then.

Rhode turned back to Piper. "I'll see you tomorrow…?" Rhode asked her slowly, unsure if the girl would even want to associate herself with her outside of the quest.

But Piper nodded with a grin. "You got it girl." She clicked finger guns at her and winked about to leave before she groaned. "Oh, gods, I'm turning into Leo!"

Rhode snickered and watched from the porch as the girl left. Her hand rested on the doorknob twitching slightly as she watched Piper disappear into the Aphrodite cabin, not too far away.

She sighed, and mustered up the courage to enter the building. The door stuck slightly from lack of use before suddenly bursting open. Rhode stumbled in, almost face planting into the grey seafloor. Blue green lights hanging from the ceiling turned on immediately, like anglerfish escas.

They illuminated abalone walls that shimmered like iridescent glass. The rest of the cabin merely contained six simple bunk beds, a dresser or two, and a mountain of rubble in the corner. Rhode frowned at it, but disregarded it.

Only two bunks appeared occupied. Above the top bunk, bronze hippocampi hung from the ceiling. She assumed this was Tyson's bunk, because they had travelled here by hippocampi and Tyson was extremely fond of them. Rhode guessed that after he had dropped her off he'd left to go continue searching for Percy.

Speaking of Percy… The bottom bunk looked like someone still lived in it. The sheets and blankets seemed to have been kicked to the bottom of the bed just that morning. Photographs littered the wall. As she inspected them, she realized why everyone had freaked out at her arrival. She and Percy were identical, just Rhode was shorter, younger, in appearance at least, and feminine. There was a photo of Percy with what appeared to be his mother and perhaps a stepfather, all of them smiling. A blurry picture of Percy kissing Annabeth, as if the picture had been captured too quickly so the photographer wouldn't get caught. Many more filled the scene. A minotaur horn hung on the wall too, still caked with blood and dirt as if it had just been killed. Rhode absorbed it all, now knowing almost _too_ much information about her younger brother.

She smirked at that. She looked three or four years younger than him, but she was _so_ much older.

Rhode sighed as emptiness filled her at that thought and her smile disappeared. Somehow she knew, that in her absence, Percy was now Poseidon's favorite. _It wasn't like I was his favorite back then, anyways,_ she thought.

He was the camp's favorite. He saved them from Kronos. They depended on him. They practically worshipped him, from what she could tell.

But what consumed her the most was that he must be his mother's favorite. Rhode would forever and always be jealous of that. She never met her mom, and never will. Her mother's been dead a long time by now.

Rhode shook her head to clear those thoughts. It wasn't his fault that he had everything she dreamed of. She couldn't hate him for that.

As she crawled into a bunk across the room, she comforted herself with that thought. Cool night air blew from a open window. Rhode listened to the waves crashing on the lake and was slowly lulled to sleep.

She woke up in her father's palace. Panic gripped her like a boa constrictor slowly squeezing her to death.

 _No, please, no, I just got out I can't be back here already!_ She thought. It wasn't until a fish swam through her. She breathed a sigh of relief, until a small familiar voice echoed through the submerged castle.

"Dad, please! Don't throw me in there!" Rhode's eyes widened in recognition. She swam through the water to the corridor where she stared dazedly at her younger self. Well, she looked the same as she was now, only in her sea-form. The girl continued to plead like a young child with Poseidon. He hushed her.

"Rhode, you know it's for your own good. Just a couple years. It'll feel like minutes," Poseidon assured her, his kind blue eyes crinkling at the edges.

Her younger self sighed and nodded in obedience, staring down at her clasped hands with an expression of defeat.

 _No!_ Rhode tried to yell out. _He'll forget you! He's lying! Don't do it!_ But of course, they didn't hear nor listen to her.

Her younger self leapt into her father's arms. If they had been above land, tears would have been visibly streaming. "Don't forget me," she whispered into his obnoxious Hawaiian shirt. He nodded slowly. "I promise. I love you."

"I love you, too." Her past self whispered, before entering the room. The door slammed behind her. Two guards were stationed at the sealed entrance.

The second she went into the room, Poseidon's sea eyes froze into ice.

"Don't ever let her out," He seethed and stocked off, his clothes fading into a foreboding military uniform.

The dream felt like seventy years passed, and at the same time, five minutes. But soon the scene changed from her wretched memory to what seemed to be occurring in the present.

Rhode was suddenly in the throne room. Her father looked furious. The waves crashed maliciously miles above on the surface reflecting his mood.

"What do you mean she's 'just gone?'" Poseidon thundered. For an instant, he reminded her of her Uncle Zeus.

"The guard shifts were switching, and between changing, she must've slipped out, because when Adrian went to check on her, she was gone." A merman guard said in a shaking voice. The poor merman trembled with fear, and Rhode knew exactly why. When Poseidon got angry, whatever was closest to him had it's life on the line.

"No matter! Find her immediately! Send troops to the surface to search, if you have too!" He commanded.

The guard nodded quickly. "Of course, sir, right away your majesty," he stammered and bowed before darting away.

When he left, Poseidon sighed, and rubbed his forehead in irritation, anger, and another emotion she couldn't identify.

And then she woke up.

* * *

A/N: Well holy shizzle lads and lassies! I posted this a day ago and have already gotten a few reviews and follows! Woo! Thank you for those and please keep sending them in, I love feedback.

Anyways, yes, I know Poseidon isn't really in character. It irked me a little to, because he's my favorite god, (he's so damn funny sometimes) but for this story he's going to be a bit two-sided. But don't worry, he might get redemption.

Might.

So again, please let me know if you think there is anything that needs to be changed, especially if the characters are out of character, or if Rhode's personality is unlikable or too strong, such as in the camp meeting where she totally blows her top. And this chapter was mostly filler/exposition, but after a few more chapters I'll get to the main plot of MoA. Update will probably be soon, I'm really motivated now lol.

Thanks again! Peace!


	4. Chapter 4: A Beauty Queen

Chapter 4: A Beauty Queen, a Superman, a Fireman, and a Pretty Lady Piper P.O.V.

Piper woke up to the sound of the conchshell ordering everyone to wake up. Most of her cabin mates complained about being woken up too early and that they needed their 'beauty sleep'.

She just rolled her eyes at them and dragged her stiff body out of bed. Quickly throwing on a tshirt and jean shorts she rushed out to go eat breakfast.

Until she saw someone who triggered her memory and she stopped dead in her tracks.

 _I almost forgot,_ she thought slyly and strolled up to Connor Stoll.

"You got the goods?" Piper smirked up at the curly haired boy.

"You know I do," he said mischievously and threw a orange duffel bag at her. She caught the bag and eyed it.

"And it's got everything in it?" She asked suspiciously holding it at arm's length in case it was actually a bomb, which had occurred before. Why she still trusted this boy she didn't know.

Connor rolled his eyes. "Yes, your Majesty, clothes, body stuff, shoes, etcetera, etcetera, other essentials, blah, blah, blah."

Piper nodded. "Thank you Stoll."

She threw a few drachmas at him, which he caught swiftly with his Hermes's reflexes. He winked at her. "Pleasure doing business."

Piper grinned and dashed off towards Cabin Three, lugging the awkward bag up the hill. The grass was still wet with morning dew, but everyone knew that it would never actually rain inside of the camp.

Finally approaching the porch, she knocked on the simple wooden door.

Rhode's voice answered almost instantly. "Come on in, Pipes'."

Piper stared at her in bafflement as she walked in. "How'd you know it was me?"

Rhode smirked. "I could hear you and Stoll bantering all the way down the lawn from here." She answered dryly.

Piper laughed quietly and set the bag down by Rhode's bed. The daughter of Poseidon raised a questioning eyebrow at it.

"It's just clothes and stuff for showering and what not." Piper explained simply.

Rhode looked at Piper in appreciation. "Thank you," she stammered. It was a basic response but Rhode's eyes showed much more than a simple thanks.

Piper stood by the door. "Don't thank me yet. I paid Stoll to...um…'acquire' and pack it. I would tread lightly."

Rhode nodded with a small grin. "Don't worry, I will."

"See you at breakfast," Piper concluded and left the cabin, heading for the mess hall.

Piper started walking back down the lawn. Jason walked out of Cabin One and stepped into pace with her. They laced their fingers together and began chatting on their way to breakfast. Her heart felt warm and fuzzy as they walked together to the pavilion and she sighed happily. If not for Gaea, everything would be perfect.

Unlinking their hands to go to their different tables, Piper joined her siblings. Lacy waved at her and she sat down besides her.

Drew sent her a glare from across the table, but their feud had almost disappeared since Piper became counselor. A simple raised eyebrow at the girl made her malicious stares dissipate.

After sacrificing some of her French toast to Aphrodite, asking for Jason and her's relationship to remain steady and good, she saw Rhode walk in.

The teal-eyed girl's hair was damp, most likely from a shower, and she was wearing ripped black jeans, a plain shirt, and a jean jacket. Even in the simple clothes, the makeupless girl was undeniably beautiful. Rhode waved shyly at her before walking to her empty table.

Piper frowned at that fact. Both Jason and Rhode had to sit alone, while everyone else was teetering on the edge of overpopulation. Literally, the edge of the table benches.

She talked quietly with Lacy until breakfast ended before jogging over to Rhode.

Piper looked the girl over and smiled. "You look really nice, Rhode."

The girl blushed deeply. "Thanks, Piper."

Annabeth and Jason walked up to them. The blonde girl had dark rings under her eyes like she hadn't slept a wink of sleep.

"Leo needs help with the Argo II, and since all three of you are going, you can assist him, okay?" Annabeth said, but it was more like a weary order.

Jason groaned. "Not another mast!"

Annabeth smiled tiredly. "Don't worry, Grace, no more masts. Leo and I stayed up all night designing the artillery and now we just need to build and install them on the ship."

Rhode frowned. " _All_ night? Annabeth, gods, you need a nap, you look exhausted."

Annabeth smirked. "You think I'm tired? Wait til' you see fireman. You guys might have to drag him out of that workshop if he's going to get any sleep."

Piper's eyes flashed evilly. "Don't worry, we won't hesitate to."

Annabeth slapped her lightly on the back. "I got faith in you, Pipes', and now-" she paused to yawn. "I'm going to follow Rhode's advice and go to sleep."

She walked past them and quickly disappeared into the Athena Cabin.

Jason looked up to the sky and closed his eyes in an ironic prayer. A moment afterwards he muttered, "Let's go get this over with."

* * *

They walked into the forest, quickly reaching Bunker 9. The granite door was slightly open, and the trio slipped through.

Rhode's eyes became saucers as she entered, her jaw dropping. Piper snickered and reached over to close it, bringing the startled girl back to reality.

But as Piper looked around, she couldn't find Leo. The Argo was in the large main room, the main mast almost poking the ceiling, but Leo was nowhere to be found.

Sensing her confusion, Jason sighed and led them towards a small back room. There they found Leo hunched over a desk scribbling rapidly on blueprints. His hands moved so fast they were tan blurs. Random tools were scattered around the desk, and at his feet was a cannon.

But it wasn't a classic plain black cylinder, oh no, it was a celestial bronze gun with about twenty buttons too many placed miscellaneously on the top.

Leo didn't seem to have noticed them. Rhode slowly approached him and lightly tapped on his shoulder. He jumped wildly and flew out of his seat.

In a millisecond, he had grabbed a hammer and ignited it.

"Who's there?" He yelped, until his eyes glazed with sleep-deprivation trained on Rhode and the other two.

He blinked and grinned, successfully shaken out of daze.

"Hey, Pretty Lady," he said and Rhode rolled her eyes with a smile. She pulled him back up and into the rolling chair.

"Hello, Leo." Rhode responded politely, and Leo beamed at a girl way out of his league actually paying attention to him. Piper had witnessed many of his previous failures at flirting with girls and she smirked at the two.

Jason cleared his throat. "So, Annabeth told us that you needed help with the artillery…" he trailed off when Leo's gaze hardened.

Leo scowled. "No!" He yelled and everyone flinched. After a moment he sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, just...the guns aren't done. We can't install them yet, I need to finish them."

The daughter of Poseidon had been examining the weapon and frowned."What's the matter with them? This Celestial Bronze M18 Kromuskit recoilless rifle looks great!" Rhode said carefully lifting up the nearest gun and inspecting its coppery surface.

"A _what?_ " Jason asked incredulously.

"A Celestial Bronze M18 Kromuskit Rifle." Rhode repeated rather too quickly for Piper too fully process what she had said. "It was an artillery gun created by the United States during my time."

 _My time…_ Piper repeated in her head. It was hard to wrap her mind around the whole timeless bubble Rhode had been stuck in at the bottom of the sea for seventy years. That would make her at least eighty-five. But physically, she looked just as old as Piper.

"I don't know, I'm trying to make it able to shoot Greek fire, but the chemical's just too combustible to stay in in the barrel without blowing the thing up." Leo said.

"What about just loading it manually when we need too? Perhaps have glass bullets with Greek fire that will break on impact with an enemy when fired." Rhode inquired.

"Too many variables. We keep it in crates, who knows what will happen, and what if we can't reach it in time to load the gun and then fire before a monster bites the ship in half?"

"Well, how about…" Rhode and Leo continued debating the gun, and Piper rolled her eyes playfully.

"Let's go," she whispered to Jason, and he furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"

"They obviously don't need our help, so come on," she said with more hinting tone in her voice, and Jason's face instantly filled with recognition.

"Ohh…" he breathed, and they left the bunker.

The two didn't show up for anything the rest of the day, not for lunch, a volleyball game, or the campfire.

After dinner, when Piper journeyed back to the bunker, to make sure her comrades were at least alive. She went back in the room, and saw Leo was passed out on the floor, snoring, with a wrench held loosely in his hand. Rhode was next to him, asleep, but still sitting up, her head leaning against the wooden desk, eyes fluttering in a dream.

Piper crept out of the room, a small smile on her lips.

* * *

A/N: Whelp, so this is a crappy chapter. It's just a short fluffy filler to put in between the exposition chapters and then next I'll start following the Mark of Athena. It was kind of weird to write for Piper, but I hope I got it right. Please rate and review! I love hearing feedback my dudes. Peace!


	5. Chapter 5: A Pretty Lady

Chapter 5: A Pretty Lady, A Fireman, and the Argo Crew Rhode P.O.V.

Rhode stared up at the Argo II that glistened in the late June sun. It was docked in the lake, and campers kept sneaking peeks at it as they moved from activity to activity.

Annabeth rushed to and fro with a checklist ordering people around. Jason was flying back and forth with boxes and crates to the supply room. Piper was chastising Leo about something, and the fiery boy was yelling back at her while making quick updates on the steering wheel.

It had been three months since Rhode had arrived at camp and everything had been smooth sailing since. She had managed to make herself useful and helped Leo build the rest of the ship. She wasn't as good a mechanic as the son of Hephaestus, but she knew the names of tools and metals and could dash back at forth across the bunker to grab the tools he needed.

And it was finally done. Rhode's room was across from Leo's, and she had decorated it perhaps the exact opposite of Cabin Three. The undersea appearance of the building made her feel uncomfortable instead of nostalgic or happy, and so her room was modern and dry. The best part was probably the small galaxy tapestry that hung above her bed, so she could see the night sky that she could never view under the sea.

Unfortunately, her nightmares of her father had just gotten worse, and she could almost feel his forces closing in. For this reason she was very glad to leave and change her location.

Leo and Piper's shouting contest had ended and Leo walked down the plank grinning mischievously.

"You ready, Pretty Lady?" He asked, dark eyes sparkling.

She crossed her arms and smirked. "I was born ready, Repair Boy."

He frowned and whined. "I'm not a repair boy...I'm more like the captain, or the commander, or the- oww!"

Annabeth grabbed him by his pointy ear. "Hush, Valdez. Go send a letter to the Roman Camp, we're leaving in less than an hour."

Her grey eyes darted over to Rhode. "And keep him out of trouble." She said, almost pleadingly.

The two teenagers mock saluted. "Got it!" Leo chirped.

Rhode noticed his fingers crossed behind his back and rolled her eyes. "Come on, Fireman," she said, and lightly pulled him onto the ship.

They entered the engine room, where a piece of yellow parchment sat on the desk, waiting to record.

Leo sat down at a chair, and Rhode continued standing, her arms resting on the back. He cracked his knuckles before grabbing the paper. "Let's do this." He said before tapping the sheet twice and beginning to talk.

"Greetings, from your friendly neighborhood Leo and Rhode, and all the other non-important Camp Half-Blood campers!"

Rhode rolled her eyes and interrupted him. "Leo, we're all important, be nice."

Leo groaned. "Ugh, fine, and all the other _very important_ campers, whatever. I'm Leo, and I'm the...what's my title?" He looked up at Rhode. She smirked. "Repair boy."

"You walked right into that one!" Piper called from the other room.

"Ha ha, very funny," Leo grumbled sarcastically.

"But yeah, I'm the Supreme Commander of the Argo II! Yeah, I like that!" He grinned.

Rhode grabbed the sheet and pointed it towards her. "Anyways, so what my _very_ full of himself friend was trying to say, was that we'll be sailing towards you in a couple hours, and we'd appreciate it if you wouldn't blast us into smoking smithereens! So Percy, uh, brother, tell the Romans that!" She said, awkwardly slipping in the fact that she was Percy's sister and hoping he'd see it.

Leo took the paper back. "See you soon! From, yours in demigodishness and all that, peace!" He ended and tapped the paper twice again. It disappeared with a flash of reddish-gold light.

"Coolio!" Leo said and rubbed his hands together. "Now let's just get everyone on board and then-"

He was cut off when yells resonated from outside the ship. The two exchanged looks. There was a pause before they dashed upstairs without a single word. Rhode grabbed her new silver sword, τυφώνας, or Hurricane, out of her sheath and gripped it tightly as they dashed off the deck. A crowd of people were gathered around the border. A unnerving feeling settled in her stomach as they got closer.

"Is it a new demigod?" Leo asked.

"I don't think so…" Rhode trailed off nervously as they pushed their way through the crowd. They finally reached the front. What they saw made Rhode gasp and stumble back into Leo.

A dozen or so merman soldiers, well, with legs since they were on land now, were pounding on the barrier. A fracture was slowly forming in the air. She could only tell that they were her father's soldiers from the trident symbols embellished on their armor.

Leo caught her, thankfully, since her legs were as weak as jello. "What is it?" He asked. "Who are they?"

"My father's soldiers," She responded raspily. "They've come to bring me back to him."

"What?" Leo asked incredulously, as another sickening crack echoed through the air.

Suddenly, Annabeth broke through the crowd brandishing her knife. "What is going on?"

"I am having some serious deja-vu," Leo said, rubbing his head. "And not the good kind."

"Is there even a good kind?" Rhode asked sardonically.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Who are they?"

Rhode monotonously repeated what she'd told Leo, trying to bury her terror deep inside herself.

"Gods almighty…" Jason said, quickly soon after appearing next to them, Piper in tow.

"So what do we do?" Leo yelped, voice cracking. Rhode would have laughed at him if they had been in any other situation.

Before any of the demigods could reply, the soldiers answered for them.

"Surrender the daughter of Poseidon, and we will leave peacefully, or face the consequences." The one that looked like the leader shouted, his handlebar mustache twitching with every angry word. Patches of aquamarine scales were sprinkled on his skin.

All the campers stared at her. Rhode swallowed thickly, but pushed away fear and stepped forward.

"No, I am not going back with you. That is my choice and you will not hurt these people because of it." She ordered in her most diplomatic voice. Silence swept across the field.

The leader stared at her, and a malicious smile spread across his face. "I was hoping you'd say that." He murmured and snapped his fingers.

With another single blow, the invisible barrier shattered. Campers started screaming and the crowd scrambled away like frightened rats to grab their weapons.

"No, don't fight them!" Rhode yelled after them, but the campers wouldn't listen.

 _They just want me,_ she thought. She knew she couldn't just give herself up, but if they left now, hopefully the soldiers would leave.

She looked Annabeth straight in the eye. "We have to leave now."

"What? We can't just abandon camp in the middle of a battle!" She said shocked as people rushed in a panic around them.

"No, if we leave, the soldiers will have nothing left here to get, aka me, giving them no reason to keep attacking. They'll follow the ship, but as long as we stay airborne and above land, they won't be able to get us." Rhode explained.

Annabeth and the others exchanged looks. Each stare had their own silent conversation, before the four nodded in agreement.

"Let's go," the daughter of Athena said, the stirring air of battle around her.

They all ran at top speeds towards the Argo, the merman instantly abandoning their fights with campers and chasing after them.

Rhode's bare feet sunk into the sand on the beach as the five demigods rushed to the ship. Leo got on first and grabbed his Wii remotes. With a couple button presses, the sails were hoisted and the oars were aligned.

"Rhode, I need a wave to get us in the air!" Leo yelled at her and then turned to Jason. "Fill the sails with wind!"

They both nodded as Piper pulled the plank unto the deck and Annabeth hoisted anchor. Merman were attempting to climb up the ship, and Rhode tried to pretend they weren't there.

"One…" Leo started, and everyone stood ready.

"Two…."

"Just go already!" Annabeth yelled as she kicked a soldier off deck.

"Three!" he ordered. Rhode conjured up a wave, lifting them twenty feet high, whilst Jason poured air into the canvas.

In a split second, they were airborne, the force of the liftoff blowing the merman a hundred feet back.

Rhode felt lightheaded with the sudden use of her powers, but grinned wildly as they flew toward California.

* * *

A/N: Okay, last chapter before MoA starts, I _promise_. Hopefully then the story will be more structured and overall better, lol. But until then, in all demigodishness and such, peace!


	6. Chapter 6: A Wise Girl

Chapter 6: A Wise Girl and the Argo Crew Annabeth P.O.V.

Until she met the exploding statue, Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.

She'd paced the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II, checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. She confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast. She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew—and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan.

Most important, she pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing they needed as they flew a magical Greek trireme into a potentially hostile Roman camp was a middle-aged satyr in gym clothes waving a club and yelling "Die!"

Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill she'd been feeling since the ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.

The warship descended through the clouds, but Annabeth couldn't stop second-guessing herself. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked and attacked them on sight?

The Argo II definitely did not look friendly. Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete…well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.

Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. She'd asked Rhode and Leo to send one of his special inventions—a holographic scroll—to alert their friends inside the camp. Hopefully the message had gotten through. Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull—WASSUP? with a smiley face—but Annabeth vetoed the idea. She wasn't sure the Romans had a sense of humor.

Too late to turn back now.

The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail.

Her four crewmates took their places.

On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.

Rhode stood next to him helping to navigate and control the ship, just not as crazily as Leo. She was wearing, ironically, a maroon sweatshirt that said '100% Human,' and fiddling nervously with the hilt of her sword, Hurricane. It looked identical to Riptide, except silver, and made her heart clench.

Everything about her did.

She looked identical to Percy, but with longer, bluer hair, and eyes like spiraling typhoons. Their personalities were very different, but every once in a while, she'd say something he would, or do something that he would, and Annabeth would have to avert her eyes.

Piper paced back and forth between the mainmast and the ballista, practicing her lines.

"Lower your weapons," she murmured. "We just want to talk."

Her charmspeak was so powerful, the words flowed over Annabeth, filling her with the desire to drop her dagger and have a nice long chat.

For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried hard to play down her beauty. Today she was dressed in tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs. (Maybe as a joke, though Annabeth could never be sure with Piper.) Her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side with an eagle's feather.

Then there was Piper's boyfriend—Jason. He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword. Otherwise he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he'd donned a toga and a purple cloak—symbols of his old rank as praetor. With his wind-ruffled blond hair and his icy blue eyes, he looked ruggedly handsome and in control— just like a son of Jupiter should. He'd grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky.

Annabeth tried to hide it, but she still didn't completely trust the guy. He acted too perfect— always following the rules, always doing the honorable thing. He even looked too perfect. In the back of her mind, she had a nagging thought: What if this is a trick and he betrays us? What if we sail into Camp Jupiter, and he says, _Hey, Romans! Check out these prisoners and this cool ship I brought you!_

Annabeth doubted that would happen. Still, she couldn't look at him without getting a bitter taste in her mouth. He'd been part of Hera's forced "exchange program" to introduce the two camps. Her Most Annoying Majesty, Queen of Olympus, had convinced the other gods that their two sets of children—Roman and Greek—had to combine forces to save the world from the evil goddess Gaea, who was awakening from the earth, and her horrible children the giants.

Without warning, Hera had plucked up Percy Jackson, Annabeth's boyfriend, wiped his memory, and sent him to the Roman camp. In exchange, the Greeks had gotten Jason. None of that was Jason's fault; but every time Annabeth saw him, like Rhode, she remembered how much she missed Percy.

Percy…who was somewhere below them right now.

 _Oh, gods._ Panic welled up inside her. She forced it down. She couldn't afford to get overwhelmed.

I'm a child of Athena, she told herself. I have to stick to my plan and not get distracted. She felt it again—that familiar shiver, as if a psychotic snowman had crept up behind her and was breathing down her neck. She turned, but no one was there.

Must be her nerves. Even in a world of gods and monsters, Annabeth couldn't believe a new warship would be haunted. The Argo II was well protected. The Celestial bronze shields along the rail were enchanted to ward off monsters, and their onboard satyr, Coach Hedge, would have sniffed out any intruders. Annabeth wished she could pray to her mother for guidance, but that wasn't possible now. Not after last month, when she'd had that horrible encounter with her mom and gotten the worst present of her life.…

The cold pressed closer. She thought she heard a faint voice in the wind, laughing. Every muscle in her body tensed. Something was about to go terribly wrong.

She almost ordered Leo to reverse course. Then, in the valley below, horns sounded. The Romans had spotted them.

Annabeth thought she knew what to expect. Jason had described Camp Jupiter to her in great detail. Still, she had trouble believing her eyes. Ringed by the Oakland Hills, the valley was at least twice the size of Camp Half-Blood. A small river snaked around one side and curled toward the center like a capital letter G, emptying into a sparkling blue lake.

Directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. She recognized landmarks Jason had told her about—the hippodrome, the coliseum, the temples and parks, the neighborhood of Seven Hills with its winding streets, colorful villas, and flowering gardens.

She saw evidence of the Romans' recent battle with an army of monsters. The dome was cracked open on a building she guessed was the Senate House. The forum's broad plaza was pitted with craters. Some fountains and statues were in ruins.

Dozens of kids in togas were streaming out of the Senate House to get a better view of the Argo II. More Romans emerged from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended.

About half a mile to the west, where the horns were blowing, a Roman fort stood on a hill. It looked just like the illustrations Annabeth had seen in military history books—with a defensive trench lined with spikes, high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae. Inside, perfect rows of white barracks lined the main road—the Via Principalis.

A column of demigods emerged from the gates, their armor and spears glinting as they hurried toward the city. In the midst of their ranks was an actual war elephant.

Annabeth wanted to land the Argo II before those troops arrived, but the ground was still several hundred feet below. She scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Percy.

Then something behind her went BOOM!

The explosion almost knocked her overboard. She whirled around and found herself eye to eye with an angry statue.

"Unacceptable!" he shrieked.

Apparently he had exploded into existence, right there on the deck. Sulfurous yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. Cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga.

"I will not have weapons inside the Pomeranian Line!" he announced in a fussy teacher voice. "And I certainly will not have Greeks!"

Jason shot Annabeth a look that said, _I've got this._

"Terminus," he said. "It's me. Jason Grace."

"Oh, I remember you, Jason!" Terminus grumbled. "I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!"

"But they're not enemies—"

"That's right," Piper jumped in. "We just want to talk. If we could—"

"Ha!" snapped the statue. "Don't try that charmspeak on me, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!"

Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she'd apparently forgotten she was holding. "Um…okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have any arms."

"Impertinence!" There was a sharp POP and a flash of yellow. Piper yelped and dropped the dagger, which was now smoking and sparking.

"Lucky for you I've just been through a battle," Terminus announced. "If I were at full strength, I would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!"

"Hold up." Leo stepped forward, wagging his Wii controller. "Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I know you didn't do that."

"Whoa, whoa, woah, slow your role, Leo," Rhode said, pulling him back by his collar. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Terminus turned to her. "Great, another child of Neptune, just what we need. More bad luck."

Rhode's eyes narrowed, looking as if she'd forgotten her previous statement. She let go of Leo and started marching towards the statue, a dangerous glint in her eyes. It was now Leo's turn to hold someone back, but despite Rhode's petite appearance, she contained a strength that almost marveled her own. She shoved Leo off with ease and continued towards the statue.

"Excuse me?" she asked with a look on her face that said, _Don't test me._

The idea that Rhode might blow a fuse any moment was enough to snap Annabeth out of her shock. The girl was generally pretty calm and sweet, but if you pressed the right buttons, she could turn from an innocent babbling brook to a tsunami in seconds.

"Let's all calm down." She raised her hands to show she had no weapons. "I take it you're Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of—"

"Oh, I know who you are!" The statue glared at her with its blank white eyes. "A child of Athena, Minerva's Greek form. Scandalous! You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the proper place for that goddess."

Annabeth clenched her jaw. This statue wasn't making it easy to be diplomatic. "What exactly do you mean, that goddess? And what's so scandalous about—"

"Right!" Jason interrupted. "Anyway, Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love permission to land so we can—"

"Impossible!" the god squeaked. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave my city immediately!"

"Which is it?" Leo asked. "Surrender, or leave?"

"Both!" Terminus said. "Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?"

"Wow." Leo studied Terminus with professional interest. "You're wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look."

He exchanged the Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's pedestal.

"Stop that!" Terminus insisted. Another small explosion made Leo drop his screwdriver. "Weapons are not allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerium Line."

"The what?" Piper asked.

"City limits," Jason translated.

"And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You cannot land!"

Down in the valley, the legion reinforcements were halfway to the city. The crowd in the forum was over a hundred strong now. Annabeth scanned the faces and…oh, gods. She saw him. He was walking toward the ship with his arms around two other kids like they were best buddies—a stout boy with a black buzz cut, and a girl wearing a Roman cavalry helmet. Percy looked so at ease, so happy. He wore a purple cape just like Jason's—the mark of a praetor.

Annabeth's heart did a gymnastics routine.

"Guys, stop the ship," she ordered.

"What?" Rhode and Leo responded simultaneously.

"You heard me. Keep us right where we are."

Leo pulled out his controller and yanked it upward. All ninety oars froze in place. The ship stopped sinking. With her abilities to control the ship, Rhode willed the sails to close so they wouldn't drift in the strong winds.

"Terminus," Annabeth said, "there's no rule against hovering over New Rome, is there?"

The statue frowned. "Well, no…"

"We can keep the ship aloft," Annabeth said. "We'll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won't be on Roman soil. Not technically."

The statue seemed to ponder this. Annabeth wondered if he was scratching his chin with imaginary hands.

"I like technicalities," he admitted. "Still…"

"All our weapons will stay aboard the ship," Annabeth promised. "I assume the Romans—even those reinforcements marching toward us—will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomerium Line if you tell them to?"

"Of course!" Terminus said. "Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?"

"Uh...guys, I don't think this is such a good idea…" Rhode said, rubbing her arm nervously.

Annabeth closed her fists to keep them from shaking. That cold feeling was still there. It floated just behind her, and now that Terminus was no longer shouting and causing explosions, she thought she could hear the presence laughing, as if it was delighted by the bad choices she was making.

But Percy was down there…he was so close. She had to reach him.

"It'll be fine," she said. "No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure each side obeys the rules." She looked at the marble statue. "Do we have an agreement?"

Terminus sniffed. "I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter of Athena. Please try not to destroy my town."


	7. Chapter 7: A Pretty Lady

Chapter 7: A Pretty Lady and the Argo Crew

Rhode P.O.V.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Rhode muttered to herself as she climbed down the rope ladder and tried not to fall. Being in a ship midair was bad enough; hanging precariously on a piece of string was basically saying: _Hey, Zeus! Send some of your pet eagles, a seafood snack is hanging defenselessly up here!_

She shook the thought away. _Everything will be fine,_ she reassured herself, but it still didn't fight off the feeling in her gut saying: _You're going to die!_

The sensation of someone placing ice cubes on her neck made her shiver , but disappeared as if it had never been there when she reached the ground. The coldness had been on and off the entire trip to New Rome. Distant laughter floated around her, and she shook her head slightly, as if the movement would force all the bad things away.

As the group moved forward, the sight of Camp Jupiter made her tense up. Hundreds of people were hastily gathered in the forum, and even though they weren't armed, she still felt in danger.

It was funny, if she was comfortable she was sweet and shy, angry, basically a volcano, but scared? She turned into a turtle on the verge of a panic-attack.

Since her imprisonment, the most people she had seen was maybe one-hundred at camp, but they were all teenagers and most of them kept to themselves. A slight wave or greeting, but she spent most of her time alone with Leo or the other Argo members.

And now all the eyes were on her.

Her breath seized up, and Leo, who was walking next to her, noticed the slight change. He was extremely ADHD, but he managed to always be aware of her.

"What's up?" He whispered.

She swallowed and managed to form words."Lots of people…" She finally said.

Leo wasn't fazed. He smiled a impish grin and loosely wrapped his arm around her. "Don't worry about it, we got this!" He encouraged her.

Rhode's anxiety was lifted with the small action. She leaned in a little bit to the embrace as they walked to the center through the crowd.

Annabeth, who was leading the five, stopped. The sea of demigods parted to reveal a dark-haired girl wearing a violet praetor's cape. Reyna, most likely, from what Jason had told them. She scanned her eyes over the group and soon locked on Annabeth. The two stared each other down in a cautious curiousity.

Rhode and the others backed up into the crowd. She heard whispers of Jason's name, but when she tuned in to some conversations she realized she was being gossiped about as well. The usual:

"Who's the Greek girl?"

"Which one?"

"Don't be stupid, the one that looks like the new praetor, idiot."

"You're right, she looks exactly like Jackson…"

Everyone always compared her to her brother, that she didn't even know.

But that quickly changed.

The crowd parted to reveal someone. Everything was silent. Reyna started to say something, but suddenly Annabeth surged forward into the person's arms. Rhode reached for her sword, except it wasn't there. She cursed the god-statue-thing for forcing her to leave her weapon on the boat, but after a moment, she realized that a fight was not about to break out. She knew automatically who it was, and that there was nothing to fear.

Probably.

Percy and Annabeth leapt into each others arms. They kissed, and everything was so perfect that Rhode knew she couldn't have dreamed up a more sappy scene. She and Leo exchanged looks and rolled their eyes.

Though Rhode secretly may have a tiny liking for Leo, and tiny desire for a kiss like that with him, she played along with being disgusted at their friends romantics. She would much rather stay friends than admit her extremely small feelings to Leo and lose him forever.

The couple pulled away and Percy stared at her with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Gods, I never thought-" He started, before Annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her head. She held him down as Romans yelped and started to move, but Reyna quickly stopped them. Some more uninterpretable words were exchanged before Annabeth and Percy stood up, small, but wild, grins on their faces.

Rhode could tell that at that moment, neither Gaea or the Prophecy mattered, just the fact that they had been reunited.

Jason awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, yeah...It's good to be back."

He shuffled his feet and pointed to Rhode, Leo, and Piper.

"Uh, this is Leo, son of Hephae- Vulcan." Jason stumbled over the god's name. She realized that switching from Roman to Greek, finally getting adjusted to Greek and then having to quickly switch back to Roman must be confusing.

Leo flashed a peace sign with a grin in response.

"This is Piper, daughter of Venus." He continued, pointing to his girlfriend. Rhode noticed that he neglected to add that small fact.

Piper looked a bit miffed, probably because she hadn't been able to use her charmspeak she'd been practicing all day, but smiled nervously at the crowd.

"And this is Rhode, daughter of Neptune…" Jason trailed off as gasps echoed through the crowd.

Percy stepped forward and looked over the three fifteen-year-olds. "Oh, yeah, you two sent the message!" He said, his gaze darting back and forth between Leo and Rhode.

"Nice to meet you, sis," He said, but Rhode could tell that it was forced and anxious, a perhaps with a hint of anger that made her flinch.

"Uh, nice to meet you too…" she said quietly, slightly intimidated. At camp, everyone talked about how great Percy was, and all his accomplishments. She gulped as she stared at the tan, lean boy, well, her brother, who stood at least half a foot taller than her, retreated back to Annabeth.

She saw Leo furrow his eyebrows, deep in thought.

"It'll be fine. Everything will be fine," she whispered to him.

He nodded absentmindedly while Rhode wondered if she was trying to reassure him or herself.

Annabeth talked to Percy and Reyna, and some pouty, stringy haired boy. After a moment, Reyna spoke,"Let's talk, and have a proper reunion." She said, well, more like ordered loudly, the forum amplifying the statement with an echo.

Her eyes gleamed as she glanced around the crowd, which cheered weakly in response and rushed to prepare for the event.

The cold washcloth draped around her neck again, small evil laughs in her ear. Rhode leaned into Leo who was always hot as a flame as they walked further into the forum, hoping that her gut was wrong.


	8. Chapter 8: AN

A/N: Hey guys, I've been rereading though this story and i don't really enjoy it anymore. I might update it a few more times or if any one really wants me too, but for now I'm going to drop it. Please understand, and thank you if you do. Any how, peace! -Captain.


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